Jack Ma loses $11b in two months as China escalates scrutiny over tech giants

The Alibaba co-founder had reached a peak of US$61.7 billion this year and was poised to become Asia’s richest person with Ant Group’s initial public offering. He currently possesses a fortune of US$50.9 billion.

The plunge in Ma’s net worth comes after Chinese regulators stepped up its probe into his empire and ordered Ant executives to “rectify” the fintech giant’s lending, insurance, and wealth management businesses.

Last week, China kicked off an investigation into Alibaba’s reported monopolistic practices and summoned Ant to a meeting over financial regulations.

Alibaba Group’s US-listed shares dropped by 8.1% in New York, the most in nearly six years, after China had suspended Ant’s listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong stock slid by as much as 9.3% in early local trading.

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Increased government scrutiny has also curbed investor appetite and has dragged down similar Chinese tech giants, despite the surge in demand for online services brought by Covid-19-induced lockdowns.

Tencent stock fell by 15% since early November, while food delivery giant Meituan dropped almost a fifth of its value from its peak last month. Alibaba’s American depositary receipts have fallen by over 25% since late October.